China hopes to promote military ties with US

Beijing, Dec 1 (IANS) China’s Ministry of National Defence said that it is willing to promote military ties with the defence department of the next administration of the United States.

“China is willing to make joint efforts with the defence department of the next administration of the United States in a bid to promote the healthy and stable development of relations between the two militaries,” ministry’s spokesperson Yang Yujun said at a press conference on Wednesday.

“Thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, recent years have seen further development of China-US military ties,” Xinhua news agency quoted Yang as saying.

The two sides have conducted effective cooperation on high-level visits, exchanges between military colleges as well as joint drills and training, Yang added.

The spokesperson noted that as some deep-seated contradictions and obstacles lie in China-US military relations, he hoped that the US would practically respect China’s core interests and major concerns as well as China’s sovereignty and rights.

Yang urged the US to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, and take China-US relations to the new administration.